Action Alert : Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers being harrassed again – lobby SADC
February 4th, 2009
SADC have guaranteed that they will actively oversee the formation of Zimbabwe’s All Inclusive Government. Please lobby your local SADC offices to ensure these farmers remain free.
Visit our action contact database and select ‘Southern African Development Community (SADC)’ from the ‘Organisations’ options. This will give you the contact details we have for SADC offices in different countries.
Please note – emails seem to bounce back a lot from these addresses. If yours does, please give them a call instead, or send them a fax.
Please point out to SADC that the Global Political Agreement signed on the 15th September by all Zimbabwe’s main parties includes the following clauses on land reform, which Zanu PF is clearly in breach of:
5.9 The Parties hereby agree to:
(b) ensure that all Zimbabweans who are eligible to be allocated land and who apply for it shall be considered for allocation of land irrespective of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation;
(c) ensure security of tenure to all land holders.
Please let us know how they respond.
There has been a recent increase in harassment of Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers.
Unverified reports have come in that several farms in Figtree, areas north of Borrowdale, Chegutu and elsewhere are being actively invaded.
Grace Mugabe herself is reported to have stolen another farm for a family member (via The Telegraph).
Recently the SADC Tribunal ruled in favour of 77 white commerical farmers and their workers, finding that the Zanu PF-led government’s land reform program to be racially motivated and in violation of the country’s international treaties to the rule of law and respect of human rights (more here). The judge ruling on the case said:
“Respondent (Zimbabwe) has discriminated against applicant (white commercial farmers) on the basis of race and by doing that violated its obligations under Article 6 of the SADC Treaty”.
It appears that now these farmers who formed the class action are the next targets in the Robert Mugabe’s last desperate attempt to complete his heinous destruction of the country’s few remaining commercial farms.
Chris Jarrett, Vice Chair of CAFCA is at this moment locked in his home, waiting for his lawyer (Josephat Tshuma) to deal with the police camped outside his gate, waiting to arrest him.
No charges have been laid, however there is strong evidence that this new onslaught is targeted at the farmers involved in the SADC case, as a second farmer was visited by the police earlier this afternoon, also part of the class action.
SADC have guaranteed that they will actively oversee the formation of Zimbabwe’s All Inclusive Government. Please lobby your local SADC offices to ensure these farmers remain free.
